Not to be undone by Netflix and Hulu, Amazon has been producing their own pilots for the past few years and today they released their latest round of pilots online. The five titles (The Cosmopolitans, Red Oaks, Hysteria, Really and The Hand of God) are available to stream for free. Unlike a lot of other studios, Amazon will be taking viewer comments into consideration when it comes to deciding whether or not to pick these pilots up for full season orders. Check back here for all of Decider’s recaps.

Amazon Instant Video just released five spanking new pilots whose full seasons will see the light of day based on one factor: you watching them. The streaming platform is gaining plenty of attention this week after beating out Google for the acquisition of Twitch TV, a pillar in the gaming community, for a cool $970 million. Now Amazon is trying something completely new by having its users pick the next Amazon Original Series. One thing is for certain, however: it sure won’t be Hysteria.

What it’s about: Mena Suvari plays a psychiatrist, Dr. Logan Harlen, who specializes in treating patients with conversion disorders, which are basically stress-induced seizures and tics that can be psychologically passed on to another person. Based on true events that happened at a New York high school back in 2012, Hysteria follows Logan as she goes back to her hometown of Austin to help treat a group of high school dancers who have been struck by the same symptoms after a drunken warehouse dance party escalated out of control.

A group of young dancers break into an abandoned snow globe warehouse to practice their moves with a couple of questionable characters. Between the underage drinking and awkward grinding, everyone seems to be having the time of their lives until one girl, Cassie, starts seizing. The whole thing is caught on video thanks to the provocative leader of the group, Audra, propping her phone up against a snow globe so it could record her dry humping one of the dancer dudes.

Cassie is rushed to the hospital, but in the aftermath another dancer, Tionne, falls victim to the same symptoms as Cassie. We soon learn that Audra is Cassie’s older sister and that she’s just been dumped by a married cop named Ray. After word gets out that the boys at the warehouse “were getting rough” with some of the girls (who were grinding on them in low underwear-like shorts and bras, but hey, it’s not their fault in the slightest), Ray and the rest of the police department begin investigating who was involved.

Dr. Logan Harlen is called to Austin by one of her former colleagues to help figure out what’s causing these girls to seize. We quickly learn that Logan has tried to stay as far away from Austin as possible the past few years after her brother murdered the sister of the man she was dating, then stuffed her body in a tree. Yes, you read that right.

As the episode comes to a close, one of the boys at the warehouse falls victim to seizures (see, boys can have hysteria too) and is rushed to the hospital. Logan is visiting her brother in prison, who urges her to stick with the case despite the haunting memories of Austin. From the longing look on her face, Logan has already made up her mind.

What Hysteria has going for it: Aside from the laughable acting and desperate writing, Hysteria is really nice to look at. The direction does the job of keeping the pilot in the category of “psychological thriller” by making you feel angsty, but unfortunately the acting takes you out of the world with every new scene.

Why it could win the next Amazon Original spot: After the Twitter-wide celebration of Netflix‘s addition of Criminal Minds and the revival of crime-thriller series like The Killing through Netflix, Hysteria definitely has the potential to hook audiences in the same way.

Why it won’t win the next Amazon Original spot: It isn’t worth the hatewatch. By giving audiences the power to choose a new series, Amazon is also giving us the power to choose quality. Hysteria is all icing and no cake. Even though the plot is based on true events, there is nothing believable about Hysteria or its two-dimensional characters.

Comments

It's about time that Mena Suvari gets a lead role...I've always thought she was underrated, maybe she just gets pegged as her American Beauty character and she misses out on roles, but she is great. The first Hysteria episode was uneven - most pilots are - but Suvari clearly stands out and I've got to believe she spent a lot of time researching neurologists because she is so believable as Dr. Harlen.

The premise of this show is really terrifying, although I'm not sure the blaming the social media angle has much staying power...I sort of think that was a weak attempt at being current and hip, but it seems a bit sophomoric to me. Still this is the first Amazon pilot that really got me hooked to the point where I definitely want to see more.

Also I really love how they use music to set the moods. The intro/theme song literally sounds like a bad dream (I guess it's by somebody called Nostalghia?) and I also really liked how they used Kid Ink’s “Rollin,” when Deante and Samson dance in front of the girls and then Audra drinks Mescal while Cassie